Author: Jim Zamichieli

Google loves to compete with virtually anyone, and very often, it does a pretty good job in any of its undertakings. Not surprisingly, Google has developed Google +, its challenger to the Facebook empire.

Social media’s been a great tool for marketing, networking, and sharing information. This relatively new technology has truly revolutionized the way businesses, brands, and communities interact with one another.

Social media’s reach is hard to ignore, and for good reason: it can flip from a source of amusement to a source of information in a heartbeat. The East Coast’s crazy August week of both an earthquake in Virginia, and Hurricane Irene serve as perfect examples of this.

With a sour economy looming over many of our heads, job hunting in 2011 can seem like a job in and of itself. Fierce job markets mean that candidates need to be equally as fierce when it comes to their competition, and social media can make all the difference in the world during the job hunt.

If there’s one thing that drives me nuts when I’m out and about in the city, it’s when someone fails to thank me for holding the door open, pointing them in the right direction, or allowing them to pass first on a crowded, narrow sidewalk. Personal grievances aside, having bad manners is also bad for business. Generation Y – the Millennials – are all too often cited as the culprits for rudeness at work, but the unfortunate truth is that corporate suits of all ages are at fault. As PR people, we are often the eyes, ears, and mouths of our companies and clients. Here’s how being polite comes across to your audience, and why it should matter to you.

If you actively maintain a website, whether it’s your own or your company’s, I’m guessing you’ve at least heard of Google Analytics. Just in case, Google Analytics is a free service provided by those tech geniuses that measures website traffic stats. It may sound complicated (and full of math – scary!) but Google Analytics was designed with digital marketers in mind (and you designing folks). Unlike a lot of free tools out there that generate filler and unimportant data, Google Analytics can be really useful if you’re looking to measure performance, or launch a keyword campaign to boost your SEO. There are a few things in particular you’ll want to understand (and pay attention to); use this guide to teach you or refresh your knowledge.

Recently, I was playing around with a tool that, like Klout, measured my social influence. Now, I haven’t yet found a measurement tool that’s the “end all, be all” of social media metrics, but I’m always interested in seeing what my results are. Nevertheless, the report told me that I needed to post during “optimal sharing times.” Optimal sharing times? I usually don’t have trouble broadcasting my messages through the social media sphere, but it made me think: is there truly a time that’s better than all others to post things? Is timing something we should all consider when promoting something? The answer is yes, but like most things, it’s not quite that simple.

It’s no secret that Google is full of geniuses. The fact that their name has become a verb in our vernacular has solidified their far-reaching impact. With so many services under the same roof, it’s no wonder there are a few gaps. The one we’ve noticed lately here at Zamolution deals with the review component Google offers alongside local business listings. Certainly the company capable of conceiving something like Android can improve their reviews service. In order to make it the most honest and accurate on the internet, here’s where we suggest they start.

In a perfect world, every press release would be devoid of grammatical errors, poor styling, and lackluster details. Unfortunately, we don’t live in that world, and plenty of uninspiring things are making the rounds. Sending out a press release is part of the job for every PR person, and most of us go into auto-pilot when writing them. Don’t let that make you careless – read over your latest draft and see how many of these questions you can answer positively.

From organizations hosting networking happy hours to start-ups throwing launch parties, promotional events seem to be happening everywhere. I’ve attended a few recently, and couldn’t help but think about how much work picking a venue, assembling a guest list, and reserving a date & time went into these things. I realized that the work doesn’t stop there; to have a successful promotional event, you have to make sure your organization, company, or project is actually being promoted (and not just handing out free drinks). So how do you do it?